Chanel drops iAd over Apple’s meddling

The AppleiAd platform is aiming to revolutionize mobile advertising but at least one of its launch partners has decided not to follow though as Chanel said it dropped plans to use this advertising channel.

Chanel didn’t elaborate on why it was dropping Apple iAd but a report from the Wall Street Journal indicates that some advertisers aren’t happy with how much input Apple has in the creative process.

The beauty of iAd is that it’s integrated with the iOS 4 operating system, so advertisers can use all the features of the phone to show ads. This means access to the accelerometer, the gyroscope (potentially) and other features for rich-media ads.

But a few problems have cropped up and the biggest may be that Apple involves itself in the crafting of the ads. This makes sense to a certain degree because Apple knows how to wring out the best in an iPhone but advertisers don’t like ceding creative control (I know this, I’ve seen Mad Men). We’ve seen some cool Apple iAd stuff like the Nissan Leaf ad but others have been slow to roll out.

Another problem is that the iAd ads are only for the iPhone and aren’t easily converted to other mobile platforms. This makes the Apple iAd spots more expensive than a broad, multi-platform play.

Of course, we’ve also seen reports that partners are happy with the way Apple is doing things.

“We feel pretty strongly that this is the way to capitalize on where the mobile Web is heading,” said Chad Jacoby, a senior manager of Nissan’s media operations. “What iAd promises is the most progressive thing I’ve seen to date” in digital advertising.

I think the grumblings are to be expected but you have to know that Apple will exert some form of control over its iAd platform. Just like with the App Store, Steve Jobs wants to maintain a certain level of quality with the ads and that can ruffle some feathers.